The Engagement Bargain and Cowboy Seeks a Bride by Sherri Shackelford

Author:Sherri Shackelford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-05-14T13:47:56+00:00

* * *

There it was, the tiny hardening in Rand’s expression that signaled the beginning of his anger. Oh, he’d find a way to cover it until they were alone. Then she’d pay. Just as Mam never knew exactly what had displeased Da, Marybeth had no idea what she’d done to anger Rand. Now his perfectly formed face was lined with a winsome sort of sadness, just like Da when he sobered up and felt ashamed for his brutality.

Rand cleared his throat. “We planned to have you stay with my brother and his wife, but Susanna’s expecting her second—Uh-oh, sorry. Maybe where you come from, folks don’t talk about such things.”

Marybeth hid her surprise at his comment. Indeed, such matters were never discussed at Fairfield Young Ladies’ Academy. However, in the lower class neighborhood where she’d grown up, people never held back when discussing the hows and whys of childbirth. Rand’s concern for her sensibilities spoke well of him. It was a quality more in keeping with the man his parents had recommended to her so highly.

“I certainly understand why Susanna doesn’t need company right now.” She offered a little shrug to indicate a lack of concern, just the opposite of what she felt. Being in another woman’s house could provide protection. “Perhaps a hotel?” She would have to take a job to pay for it, but she’d planned to do so anyway. Her purse was empty, and traveling to Wagon Wheel Gap to search for her brother, Jimmy, would require another season of earning the funds to do so.

“Another uh-oh.” He smiled and grimaced at the same time, a wickedly attractive expression. Oh, Lord, guard my heart against this man’s charms. “We don’t have a hotel. My father plans to bring in a hotelier from back East, maybe even England. He’s working on that and a lot of other things to build up the town. Of course that doesn’t help us right now.”

Before alarm could take hold of Marybeth, Lucy arrived with two bowls of steaming chicken and dumplings. Once again Rand took her hand. This time he bowed his head and lifted a short, sincere-sounding prayer of thanks for the food. Emotion churned through Marybeth’s chest like a roiling sea. Da had prayed, too. Magnificent prayers in his lilting Irish brogue, prayers God would surely hear for their beauty. Yet he never changed, never improved his ways. She set aside the memories but would never permit herself to forget them, lest she end up like Mam.

“Can I bring you anything else?” The waitress gave Rand a simpering smile at odds with her tomboyish swagger. She was flirting with him, but from his friendly, “No, thank you,” Marybeth could see he was oblivious to her attempts to get his attention. An odd sort of jealousy smote Marybeth. No, that was just silly. Not jealousy at all. Simply an awareness of the girl’s bad manners in flirting with a man when he was in the company of another woman.

They wordlessly began to eat and Marybeth’s appetite roared into command.

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